Problems associated with the dispensing and retrieval of food, beverages and other articles on passenger aircraft are well-known. These problems are serious on both short and long flights. Thus, on shorter flights, even in relatively small aircraft, the limited number of stewards or stewardesses are hard put to serve up to 100 passengers with food and beverages and retrieve the trays and containers operating from one dispensing location and within a short time interval. On longer flights, in large planes accomodating several hundreds of passengers, even with greater space and manpower, sometimes requiring many distribution points in the aircraft, as well as a longer time to serve, service and retrieval are also great problems when trays, etc. must be carried a few at a time by an individual with many trips to and from the supply area required.
In addition, when passenger movement is considered, as well as turbulence problems, the necessarily limited traffic area of a given aircraft compounds such problems because several stewardesses in the same area may interfere with one another's passage and function, as well as passenger movement.
It should also be noted that the airline passengers suffer just as much from the service deficiencies of the presently available equipment as the airline personnel. Ofttimes some passengers may not even get served on a given flight.
What is needed is a device which will enable large numbers of trays to be loaded thereon at the service area of the airplane, can move as a single unit into the serving area (passenger seating area) of the airplane and permit the service of the passengers sequentially from the device by one or more stewardesses working with the device. In this manner, all of the time and effort of the stewardess or stewardesses is devoted directly to loading the device, serving the passengers and thereafter picking up the used containers or trays without continuous travel to and from the service and dispensing zone of the aircraft being required. If such means were provided which would enable such concentrated loading, dispensing and pick-up, the crew would then be available for other personal attentions and services to the passengers. However, for this to be so, the time required in loading, dispensing and picking up food and beverages must be markedly reduced from the present situation to substantially serve the convenience of both the passengers and the stewardesses.
The entire purpose of the present invention is to provide a practical solution to these problems along the lines indicated. Further, another purpose is to reduce the crew manpower required to efficiently serve a given number of passengers in any particular aircraft.